Dream 11 bags title sponsorship rights for IPL 2020 with bid of Rs 222 crore

Fantasy sports platform Dream11 has been announced as the new title sponsors for the Indian Premier League 2020. Dream11 won the rights with a bid of Rs 222 crore in Tuesday's bidding process. The company will replace Chinese mobile manufacturer VIVO after it pulled out of the 13th edition of IPL over Indo-China border tensions.

The IPL 2020 will be held in the UAE from September 19 to November 10 in three cities -- Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The BCCI on August 10 invited Expressions of Interest for the title sponsorship, saying companies with a turnover of over Rs 300 crores will be allowed to bid.

Dream11 outbid online education platforms Byju's, Unacademy on Tuesday. Tata Group, which had submitted Expression of Interest (EOI) did not bid on Tuesday. While Dream11 made a bid of Rs



222 crore, Byju's bid Rs 201 crore and Unacademy Rs 170 crore.

VIVO was paying the BCCI Rs 440 crore annually for the 5-year deal which they bagged in 2017 by bidding a whopping Rs 2,199 crores in 2017.

The IPL 2020 title rights, the BCCI had said, would be available for the period from August 18, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Dream11's parent company Dream Sports was founded in 2008 and provided multiple avenues for fan engagement. According to their website, Dream Sports has more than 8 crore users. Dream11 is already associated with the BCCI.

VIVO's pull out due to border tensions between India and China 45 days ahead of IPL 2020 was seen as a setback to the cricket board, considering title sponsorship is a significant part of the tournament's commercial revenue.